Dressing for an Interview

8/1/2018

You might’ve heard about the psychology of colors. Companies use colors in marketing and advertising to convey certain feelings or emotions. For example, a restaurant wants you to spend money by eating a lot of food. Warm colors like red, orange, and yellow stimulate your need to eat. Blue suppresses appetite. Color sends a subconscious message to the guest.

The same idea can be applied to interviews. You’ve heard what to wear and not to wear, but have you thought about what colors to wear and not to wear?

Medium to dark colors are most business like. They shows authority and conservativeness.

Lighter colors are friendlier and less threatening but lack power. Neutral colors are always a safe bet.

Navy blue is the go to color. Blue is the most universally liked color. It’s considered a professional color that gives off confidence, trust, loyalty, reliability, and stability. Many interviewers see navy blue as a team player color. It’s the safest color to use for an interview.

Black is always a classic. It gives off a powerful sophisticated vibe. It's a great choice for a corporation, high level position, or law firm because it is a commanding color associated with power, strength, and leadership. However, in a laid-back office environment it can be intimidating and unapproachable. In which case black is great as an accent rather than a full outfit.

Grey is a less intimidating version of black. Although it gives off sophistication and professionalism, grey is a non-confrontational powerful color. A Career Builder study reveals employers often associate grey with someone analytical and logical.

White is often is correlated with someone organized. A white shirt or blouse can make you seem very clean and simplistic. A great option to use as a shirt or blouse for a bit of brightness.

Red should only be worn as an accent color. When wearing a lot of red it is perceived as overpowering, attention-seeking, and aggression. However, when worn as an accent, it conveys energy, passion, and power.

Brown brings a dependable and reliable feeling to an interview. Although it gives off a friendly, confident, and flexible association, it is sometimes viewed as outdated. It is said to work well in industrial job interviews.

Other colors like green, yellow, purple, and orange are considered distracting. However, these colors are associated with creativity. In the right environment, like media jobs, these colors can be considered as memorable. These “loud” colors communicate that you’re fun. Careful though, there is negative connotation around some of them. Green is seen as untrustworthy, while orange is unprofessional.